Press Release: Digital Agenda – Commission queries Czech regulator’s plans to regulate access to its broadband networks

The European Commission has decided to further investigate the proposal by the Czech telecoms regulator (ČTÚ) to partially lift obligations on the main Czech telecoms operator Telefónica to give alternative operators access to its infrastructure, so they can also offer broadband. Without this access, the choice of operators offering high-speed Internet in the Czech Republic would be limited and consumers might have to pay higher prices for higher speed Internet connections.

The Commission has serious doubts whether ČTÚ's proposal not to impose regulation on wholesale broadband access in municipalities where Telefónica allegedly faces more intense competition from alternative infrastructures is compatible with EU telecoms rules. The Commission also believes that ČTÚ's plans could affect trade in the EU as the conditions for access to Telefónica's copper and fibre network in the Czech Republic can determine the cost of Internet services offered by other operators in the other Member States. The Commission has therefore suspended ČTÚ's plans and started a so-called 'Phase 2' investigation.

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